The great fear of life, its greatest challenge, is its inherent, physically determined, mental isolation. We are born alone and we die alone. Each of us, encapsulated in one body, must make the internal journey of his/her life in solitude.
Individuals and cultures deal with this differently. Religion is a common vehicle for people to assuage their fears of one-ness as it pertains to life and death. In fact, the less educated the person and his/her culture in modern science and philosophy, the more he/she tends to rely on religion, concepts of immortality, concepts of an afterlife. In these inventions, people can imagine that they are never really alone. In fact, when they die, they can believe, they will be reunited body-less with their loved ones and never suffer the separation of death again.
No such magical thinking is available to the awakened mind. The awakened mind uses practice and learning to forge constructive ways to live with one-ness, while remaining compassionately engaged with other human beings. This is one of the core principles of practice.
Those who embrace awakened, mindful practice as a way of daily living are truly liberated from fear about living and dying alone. Frankly, these fortunate human beings are too busy for these insecurities. They are also too engaged in positive change to be drawn into culture wars or religious wars. They are painfully aware of these horrors of attachment and ignorance all around them. However, their road, their path, is forward, nonviolent, ultimately peaceful.
